HAWAI'I GARDENS
Norfolk pines tidy indoors, perfect for making wreaths
By Heidi Bornhorst
All my life, we've had a Norfolk Island pine family Christmas tradition. I am not about to cut that off — Norfolks are great!
Our family had two big Norfolks from which we would harvest tops on alternate years. This was a big job for Dad to climb up a 60-foot pine, cut the tops and carefully send them flying down for us to retrieve. (Don't break Mom's favorite plumeria!) A few years ago, my husband Clark took over this perilous job, to the vast relief of my mother.
Clark's family also has a Norfolk Island pine that he planted for his late mother, back when he was 10 years old. This tree in Foster
Village had grown really large and was close to the house. They hired Dudley Hulbert, a certified arborist, to come and reduce the size of the tree and get it to regrow smaller trees that they could cut at Christmas time. This year, the tree had three fine, small trees. The largest, most majestic one went to our friend Larry Smith, a noted gourmet and entertainer, who has a high-ceilinged Manoa house. A second was earmarked for my sister Mimi.
Last week, my generous husband informed me that he had given away the third tree.
"What about the tree for us?" I asked, somewhat sadly.
"Oh, we'll get the Charley Brown one from your parents," he said glibly. I was not that happy, but then it is the season for giving.
Then, early on Saturday morning, I got a festive call from my old childhood friend Kristen Lum Bradley: "Hi Heidi, we have a Norfolk pine with your name on it, and we'd love to see you. Bring a saw." Talk about holiday serendipity! It is the prettiest tree (we say that every year too, and mean it).
Some varieties are rough, and others are velvety smooth. (Young seedling trees tend to be rough, while tops harvested from mature trees are smoother, with more
velvet needles.) They are a true Hawai'i product (well sort of — longtime, anyway). They stay fresh and green, and don't drop needles. No new pests accompany a shipment of Norfolks, because they're here already. Grow your own or support a local Norfolk pine farmer.
They have a wonderful symmetrical shape, and you do not have to water them at all. I think of the Norfolk Island pine as a no-mess house plant that will last for months. I feel sad taking it out around April. It's still green, that's why!
You also can do cool things with the needles and branches. Needles can be an angel halo, or a bracelet or mini wreath. Norfolk pine branches make for quick and easy full-sized Christmas wreaths. Some object to the fact that the trees have no scent. You can spray on pine scent, or as my friend Kristen Bradley suggests, use a wooden ornament enhanced with pine scent.
Hawaiian holiday wreaths
If you have a Norfolk pine, you can still have that Mainland Christmas smell. Buy a wreath in support of your favorite charity. This will impart a nice fragrance for your holidays.
You also can create your own wreath. We had the privilege of taking a great wreath class from Hawaiian treasure Marie McDonald, her talented daughter Roen Hufford and skillful Euphemia Nagashima, ably assisted by Paul Weissich, at Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden.
With a few basic supplies that you can buy from any crafts shop or florist, you can create a lovely and unique wreath, swag or even gift toppers from found garden materials. These high winds are giving us gifts from high atop trees. Go out and see what you can find!
Pre-collecting and assembling the decorative plant materials makes it easier. A base can be bought at the store or made from found materials. We started with a straw base enclosed in plastic. (Don't take off the plastic.) Marie McDonald showed us how to make a wreath base using an old wire coat hanger, wire or string and presoaked brown banana leaves, and banana-stem skin. The aerial roots of banyan trees make a great base, and are decorative in themselves with their dark reddish brown color. Marie made one pretty wreath of the roots arranged in a circle, wrapped with banana-stem skin and highlighted with dried ferns, dragon tree bases and dried hau leaves.
Weissich is a proponent of hau in its many forms. Many years ago, he traveled to Tahiti and brought back different color forms of hau including red-leafed and variegated ones. Dried hau leaves are surprisingly gorgeous in wreaths. Hau bark is also in Christmas and other crafts. It's good strong stuff, and you can shred it fine like raffia or thick like mai'a or banana.
You can make ribbons of sugar cane (the old colorful, flavorful Hawaiian varieties are super for this), or of flax if you are at higher elevations (and you'd be getting rid of a forest pest), green or variegated hala leaves, ti leaves and banana leaves.
Roen made a banana animal from soaked banana-stem skins and leaves. I think it was a reindeer.
